The Indianapolis Colts made the signing of Philip Rivers official on Saturday and it continued to raise the question of what the team might do with former starter Jacoby Brissett.
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While it seems the Colts are intent on keeping Brissett and his $21.3 million salary cap hit for the 2020 season, Rivers had a lot of praise for the 27-year-old when speaking to reporters in a conference call on Saturday.
“I have a lot of respect for Jacoby, obviously the way he handled everything last year – kind of the whole thing going down with the change there,” Rivers said. “I’ve never heard a negative thing about Jacoby – from being a great teammate, being a good leader, being one of the guys in the locker room and all those things.”
The Colts could save up to $15 million in salary cap savings if they trade Brissett. However, it seems they are likely going to keep him as the backup behind Rivers, which means the quarterback room will have a salary cap hit of over $45 million for the 2020 season.
The Colts aren’t going to pay Rivers $25 million fully guaranteed in a season just to have him compete for the starting role. He will be QB1 and Brissett will resume his backup role.
But Rivers is expecting the quarterback room to be competitive and supportive.
“I don’t know him real well, other than ‘Hello’ when we’ve played him. But I’ve always been thankful for our quarterback room and how the dynamic has always been,” Rivers said. “We’ve always competed like crazy but pulled for one another and I don’t anticipate it being any different.”
It isn’t clear when the Colts will be getting together amid the coronavirus outbreak, but Rivers is set to be the new quarterback while working alongside Brissett in the room.
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